Whether on New Year’s Day or a random day of the year, we’ve all set goals of some kind — and we’ve all struggled to achieve them.

There are many reasons why we often fail to meet our goals: A lack of time or motivation, a change of circumstance, or setting too big of a goal (check out this blog post for our tips on creating manageable goals). If you truly want to meet your goals, you have to break them down into manageable steps — and that starts with changing your habits.

A habit is something you do automatically — oftentimes subconsciously. Some examples of habits you might already have are brushing your teeth after every meal, walking the dog when you get home from work, watching TV before bed, or scrolling Instagram when you’re bored. Some habits are necessary and helpful, such as drinking eight glasses of water a day or making your bed. Others may interfere with your health, such as eating a bowl of ice cream every evening or consistently going to bed late.

Whether your goal is to run a 5K, get more sleep, eat healthier, or perform better at work, the path to achieving these goals starts with changing — or adding — habits. So, as you look at your goals, think, are my current habits contributing to my achievement of these goals?

If you want to run a 5K, have you started running consistently each week? If you want to eat healthier, what new fruits and vegetables can you incorporate into your meals? If you want to get more sleep, what do you need to change in your nightly routine that will help you get a full eight hours? If you want that promotion at work, maybe you need to start tackling projects sooner, scheduling brain breaks to improve productivity, or putting deadlines on your calendar so you don’t forget a due date.

Changing and adding new habits is key to successfully achieving your goals, but that’s more easily said than done. There are distractions, bad habits that get in the way, human error, and forgetfulness. Here are some strategies to help you achieve your goals:

Start Small

Don’t try to add a bunch of new habits at once or you’ll likely get overwhelmed and may even give up on the goal altogether. Start by adding just one habit and give yourself time to establish it before moving on to the next one.

Utilize Habit-Stacking

A really helpful strategy for establishing new habits is to stack a new habit onto an existing one. For example, if your goal is to be more grateful, write down three things you’re thankful for after you brush your teeth every morning.

Reward Yourself

What’s something you love? Maybe you have a favorite true crime podcast you listen to. Only allow yourself to listen while you’re working out.  Do you have a favorite tea or coffee you love to sip? Allow yourself to enjoy it only while you’re reading. If you do reward yourself, be careful not to establish a bad habit alongside this new one. Treating yourself to a donut every time you work out isn’t going to help establish a good habit in the long run, but sometimes the occasional reward can be a good motivator.

Make it Fun

If your goal is to journal more, buy a nice new journal and fun pens to make the habit more enjoyable. Get a new pair of running shoes to start that 5K training. However, don’t let the appeal of buying a new item take away from establishing the habit. The hope is that the fun, new item will motivate you to practice the new habit.

Use Accountability

There are tons of apps out there that can help you establish new habits. Reminder apps, water-drinking apps, workout apps — the list is endless. Find what works best for you. Friends and family can also be great accountability partners.

After breaking your goals down into habits, reevaluate every once in a while that your habits are still contributing to your goals. Don’t be afraid to try new strategies or incorporate different habits. Not everything is going to work for you, so try a few things until you land on something that fits. Habits take time to establish but are well worth the time and effort to help you accomplish your goals.

At Reynolds, we work together to incorporate good habits for work and life. One of our favorite books, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, even addresses this topic. Interested in learning more about Reynolds? Click here to visit our Careers page.